them on a towel. Take a double-wire broiler and butter it thickly,
taking care to have the fire hot. Season the oysters lightly with pepper
and but very little, if any, salt. Put the oysters between the broiler,
and broil them; serve them on toast.
For breaded oysters, prepare as before, and dip the oysters in melted
butter seasoned with pepper and salt, and roll them in cracker crumbs.
Put them on the gridiron and broil them until they are light brown.
For oysters broiled with bacon, cut very thin slices of breakfast bacon,
as many slices as oysters, and stick them on little skewers, half a
dozen oysters on each skewer, first a slice of bacon and then an oyster,
until you have half a dozen on each skewer. Flatten them so that they
will lie a little apart. Put the skewer between the buttered bars of the
gridiron, dust them a little with pepper and brown them. The bacon
should be cut very thin and about the size of the oyster. Serve them on
the skewers.
For oysters in the Philadelphia style, prepare the oysters by draining
the juice from them and removing the small pieces of shells. Use for one
dozen large oysters one tablespoonful of lard, two tablespoonfuls of
salad oil. As soon as the fat is hot put the oysters in and fry them
till the edges curl. Season them with pepper and salt. Fry them plain or
rolled in flour.
WELSH RAREBIT.
For a rarebit large enough for three or four persons, put in a sauce pan
a quarter of a pound of grated cheese, two tablespoonfuls of butter, a
saltspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of ale, one teaspoonful of
mustard, a little dust of cayenne pepper, stir all these together over
the fire and serve on toast.
LECTURE TWELFTH.
_Cookery for the Sick._
BROILED CHICKEN.
For broiled chicken choose always a tender chicken. Remove all the
feathers, singe it over the fire, and wipe the chicken with a wet towel.
Split the chicken down the back. In doing that one can remove the
entrails without breaking. Take out the entrails and crop; lay the
chicken open on the gridiron. It is better to use a double gridiron,
well buttered. If the chicken is not tender, break the joints so the
chicken will lie flat on the gridiron. Put the inside of the chicken to
the fire first and brown it. Do not put it too close to the fire. Broil
it fifteen or twenty minutes, for it will require about that time to get
well done. When the inside is brown, turn it and broil the outside,
allowing about ten minutes. Take time enough to brown it nicely without
burning. If you have a very young spring chicken less time will be
required. Do not broil a chicken that weighs over three pounds. If the
chicken is very large it is better to put it in a very hot oven in a
pan, with no butter unless the chicken is very lean. Season with salt,
pepper and butter, if desired, when it is removed from the oven.
BARBECUED CHICKEN.
Split down the back, and after breaking the joints dress and lay it
open. Use two tablespoonfuls of butter and one cup of water. Season with
salt and pepper. Brown the chicken well, dredge it with flour and baste
it every fifteen minutes with drippings from the pan until tender. Pour
over it the gravy that you find in the pan, and serve. The Southerners,
with whom this dish is a great favorite, usually put in this gravy some
nice table sauce.
JELLIED OATMEAL.
Take one-half cup of very finely ground oatmeal and put it over the fire
with a pint of boiling water and a level teaspoonful of salt. Boil it
very slowly until it becomes transparent. This will require two hours or
longer. Do not add any more water unless it is positively necessary.
When it is done it should be stiff and hold its form when it is turned
out. It makes a dish which is very nice and nutritious for sick people,
when it is quite gelatinous. Add sugar, if it is desired, and put it in
a mould. Serve when cold and solid with cream and powdered sugar.
BOILED TROUT.
Boiled trout makes an excellent dish for convalescents and it is very
nutritious. Have the fish cleaned and the scales removed. The entrails
should be drawn from the gills. After the fish has been thoroughly
washed boil it in salted boiling water till you can easily pull a fin
out, then serve it with a white sauce either made plain or with milk.
French canned green peas are nice with trout. If the peas are served
with the trout put the peas on the dish and lay the trout on them.
Clam soup may be given to invalids with beef tea, alternating. Clam soup
may be given when beef tea can not be digested. It is very nutritious.
Drain off the juice and remove all bits of shell as with oysters. If the
clams are whole put the shells over the fire until they are heated;
remove the clams and simply season the juice very lightly with salt and
pepper and use the broth in that shape. If you are using canned clams
heat the clams in the juice, then remove the juice and season slightly,
using the juice. Strain the juice. Take the clams and cut away the hard
part from the soft part. Boil the juice, with the hard part, long enough
to extract the flavor. Use the juice to make the soup, adding water or
milk. When the soup is made season it, putting the soft part of the clam
in it. Boil it a couple of minutes and serve it. Use butter and flour in
the same manner as for thickening oyster soup.
Make orange salad to serve with broiled chicken in the following manner:
For a small chicken use two small sour oranges, sliced very thin.
Arrange them nicely on a dish. Place over the slices of orange a very
little salt, a little cayenne pepper, and three tablespoonfuls of salad
oil. If the oranges are sweet a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice must
be added. Serve the chicken on top of the orange salad.
RENNET CUSTARD.
Heat a half pint of milk until it is lukewarm. While the milk is heating
beat one egg with a teaspoonful of powdered sugar and stir the egg and
sugar in with it. When the milk is lukewarm add one teaspoonful of
liquid rennet and one teaspoonful of wine or one tablespoonful of rennet
wine. Mix all together and let it become cold. Rennet custard may be
given safely when the invalid is not able to take more than broth.
BEEF TEA.
For a pint of beef tea take one pound of beef chopped very fine. All the
fat is to be cut away. Put it in a bowl with a pint of cold water. Let
it stand in an earthen bowl at least an hour, and longer if possible.
Put the water and beef in the sauce pan over the fire, and heat them
very slowly indeed. When the beef tea arrives at the boiling point pour
it into a wire sieve to allow the juice and the little particles of
meat--not the fibres--to pass through. Season it very lightly, and if
any particles of fat are visible lay little pieces of white porous paper
on top of the tea to absorb the fat; serve it hot or cold.
NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE UPON THIS COURSE.